Sojourn
by Bobbie23
Summary: What happens when Emily leaves at the end of the 200th episode? My hopeful take on it. Emily/Morgan.


Author Note – I should be working on the next chapter for another story, but this decided to take root in my head and I couldn't concentrate on the other story till I got this out. Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think.

Disclaimer – I don't own Criminal Minds or any of its' characters.

Sojourn

Morgan turned the water off and stepped out from under the shower. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he opened the door of the bathroom to return to his bedroom. He heard rustling from his guest room where Emily was packing her bag. She had an early flight back to London in the morning.

He dried off quickly and dressed in sweats and a t shirt. Walking past the guest room, Morgan paused in the doorway and watched Emily pull a shirt out of the drawer and put it back in her bag. She showered before him and had changed into her pyjamas. As soon as Emily heard JJ needed her help, she was on a plane to DC. It had been a busy few days, and it had flown by. Now it was time for her to leave.

Emily felt Morgan's eyes on her and she turned to him expectantly. She paused as she saw that look in his eyes, the same one that had been there when she told him she was going to London. It was etched into her mind. Inwardly sighing, Emily sat on the bed as the sorrow of saying goodbye again overcame her. Despite the circumstances that brought her home, it had felt great to be here again. Within a few hours of working side by side with the rest of the team it had felt like she had never been away. They had left the others a little over an hour before, Emily exchanging goodbyes, tearful in the case of Penelope, and promises to call when she landed the next day.

"You all packed?" Morgan asked quietly. Even though he fought to keep his voice was neutral, Emily could hear it wavering.

She tried to cut the atmosphere with a joke as she flashed him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Trying to get rid of me Morgan?"

"Never," he said as he held eye contact with her.

"Can we not do this? It's my last night and I want to spend some time with you before I leave. I don't want to think about being nearly four thousand miles away tomorrow," she pleaded.

Morgan's eyes softened at the tone of her voice. Though they hadn't rested much, Morgan didn't feel the need to sleep. He wanted to cram as much time as he could with her in the next few hours before their interaction reverted to too short phone conversations and infrequent Skype calls. "I'm sorry," he said as he nodded his head over his shoulder. "Come on, I've got take out on its' way and action films ready to go."

Relief flooded through her as she followed him downstairs to his darkened living room, the television and a dim lamp being the only light source. As Emily picked up the selection of films Morgan had placed on the coffee table the doorbell rang and Morgan went to get the food. Emily put the film she chose into the player and settled on the sofa as Morgan re-entered the room and placed the food on the table in front of them, Clooney trailing after him as he smelt the food.

Emily pressed play and they helped themselves to food, Morgan shooing Clooney to his bed in the corner. After they finished eating, Emily spoke. "I do miss being here," she confessed as she sat back on the sofa, her leg bent as she brought her foot up to rest on the edge of the furniture.

Morgan glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Here? As in my living room?" He questioned.

Emily rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head. "In DC, with the team," she explained with a sad smile. "Do you know how many times in the past eighteen months I've turned around to tell you something, only to find that you're not there?" She asked.

Morgan wiped his hands with a napkin before pushing his plate away. "Probably as much as I have," he returned the smile. "So, what's it really like in London?"

Emily tried not to smirk. "It's…" she paused as she tried to think of the right description. "Nice."

A deep chuckle erupted from Morgan as he turned to look at her. "Nice?"

Emily blushed as she rolled her eyes again. "Yes, I like it." She glanced at his face, wide grin in place as he looked at her. "What?"

"You could seem a little more enthusiastic about it," Morgan told her. "So I take it there's no mystery man back in London then?"

Emily brow furrowed as she shot him a questioning look, wondering why he would ask her that, or even have that impression. "No," she told him. "Why?"

"Uh, well when you have coffee listening in on a certain couple of blondes, one of whom has a very active imagination, you hear a few things. They were a few theories being bounced around." Emily groaned at his explanation, Penelope always pounced on the subject of her virtually non-existent love life when they talked. Emily wasn't mad they were discussing her. She knew that they wanted her to be happy. It made her yearn for a ladies night. Made her wish she had more time as she suspected JJ needed a ladies night after the last few days.

"I've been asked out a few times," she explained. "But nothing stuck."

Morgan tried to ignore the feeling of relief that came over him. "So what is it really like?"

"Good." He still heard the reluctance in her voice.

"But it's not the same as home, is it?"

"No it's not," Emily agreed. "But it's not about the job." Morgan nodded to her question, not quite trusting his voice at that moment. He brought his elbows up to rest on his knees, his hands meeting under his chin, fingers lacing together. "I like my job, I like my team, I like where I live. But I miss you guys every day."

"We miss you too Emily. Are you sure you can't stay longer?" He finally asked. It was a safer question than the one he had wanted to ask.

Emily's eyes dropped to the floor as she shook her head. "I wish I could but I really need to get back. There is so much happening at the moment." Easter wasn't happy that he hadn't known about her trip home till she was halfway across the Atlantic.

In the year and a half she had been in London, Emily had been able to find some semblance of peace to her life. She had been able to take the step back she had needed without losing touch with everyone. But now she had come to terms with that time in her life.

"I miss you Emily." He missed talking to her, missed her laugh, missed being in the same room as her. Morgan had promised that he wouldn't do this, but they needed to talk about this.

Emily looked up at him and found him looking at her with that look again. Emily felt scared and privileged at the same time. Morgan was a private person and he trusted her enough to open up to her.

"It's not the same here without you," Morgan continued. They had fallen back into sync easily with one another soon after she had arrived. "I'm sorry if you're uncomfortable, but I needed…"

He trailed off when he felt her hand touch his. Their eyes connected and she shook her head at him. "Don't apologise for saying how you feel," she told him, trying to conceal the tremble in her voice. He had been one of a few people who understood her, offered a safe confidence for her thoughts and feelings, knew when to back off, had been the first to realise something was wrong when she was trying to hide Doyle's return from them. Emily wanted to be able to return that trust.

"You needed to get away," Morgan started as he slumped back on the sofa, their hands taking a firmer grasp of one another. "I get that, and I knew I would miss you. But I always thought it would pass with time," his adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "It hasn't."

Emily lowered her foot to the floor so she could move closer to him. When there was no space between them, she dropped her head to his shoulder. "Why didn't you ask me to stay?"

"Would you have stayed?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly.

"It would have been the worst possible timing," they both laughed sadly, and he felt Emily head nod on his shoulder.

"Yeah, but then maybe neither one of us would regret that you didn't ask me to stay," she told him quietly. Her eyes closed when she felt his lips brush her forehead.

"I wanted to ask," she felt him say against her skin.

"I know." She felt his nose brush hers as she kept her eyes closed. Her mouth tipped upwards slightly as she felt his lips brush her cheek.

"You're leaving in the morning," he whispered against her lips.

"I am."

"If I asked you to stay in the morning, would you?"

"No," she admitted. "But it would give me a reason to come home more." There was a gentle pressure of his lips on hers as he finally closed the distance between them.


End file.
